


Harvest Trick

by Dragoncat (Dragoncat1991)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21655669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragoncat1991/pseuds/Dragoncat
Summary: Written for the Halloween writing contest at Serenes Forest. Just now posting it. Kiddo bios linked at the bottom, not all kiddos in the bio doc appear.Byleth is Archbishop now, and has reformed the church into Church of Sothis. Alois' daughter, who is knight captain, has arranged a harvest festival for Garreg Mach. But of course this can't go smoothly just yet.
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez/Petra Macneary, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Edelgard von Hresvelg/Hubert von Vestra, Hilda Valentine Goneril/Claude von Riegan, Marianne von Edmund/Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, Raphael Kirsten/Leonie Pinelli, ignatz victor/bernadetta von varley
Kudos: 24





	Harvest Trick

The continent of Fodlan, year 1205. Once controlled heavily by the Church of Seiros, which is now Church of Sothis, and under the new archbishop, reforms have been made to limit the power and reach of the church. Three nations still exist, recovering from the scars of war.

The Adrestia Empire, ruled by Empress Edelgard Hresvelg. A proud woman who stands as tall as she possibly can, figuratively and literally, with her small stature. Her quarrel with the church twenty years ago was personal, but she is on friendly terms with the new archbishop and how he is running things.

The Kingdom of Faerghus, ruled by King Dimitri Blaiddyd. A battle scarred man who has earned the nickname One Eyed Lion. He had a rough childhood and life to this point, so he's grateful things have settled down. He was willing to work with the Knights of Sothis in reconstruction of the Duscur region, which was in ruins as a result of warfare and quarrels with Faerghus.

The Leicester Alliance, led by Archduke Claude Reigan. Still a loose batch of territories where leadership is not guaranteed or permanent, and nobles still squabble. House Reigan has held the leader seat for roughly forty years and has remained mostly unopposed. Relations with the nearby Almyra region have become close over the years, almost to the point that the Almyrans consider themselves part of the Alliance.

In the center of the continent lies Garreg Mach, a monastery, academy, and home of the Church of Sothis. Archbishop Byleth was brought in as a professor twenty years ago by former Archbishop Rhea, who disappeared without a trace, but not before appointing her successor. The academy is still divided into three student "houses", one for each of the three main powers of Fodlan. And although having the house leaders also be the heirs to their respective nations led to disaster last time, the archbishop is confident and stern in his reforms, and "it will not happen again" is all he says to the naysayers. The Black Eagle house, led by Astor Hresvelg of the Empire. The Blue Lion house, led by Kion Blaiddyd of the Kingdom. And the Golden Deer house, led by Giselle Reigan of the Alliance.

It was day ten of the Wyvern Moon, and the archbishop was in his chambers reading correspondence from the former house leaders, who had sent care packages for their children. They may be leading their nations now, but to Byleth, they were still his kids. When he first took the professor job all those years ago, he didn't expect to start thinking of them as his "kids", but they became that way.

_Teach:_

_I heard you made Cyril an instructor! That's great! He'll do awesome. I hope he's gotten used to working for you instead of "Lady Rhea". It hit him pretty hard when he heard she'd left. But I guess she did give him a home and a purpose._

_Hilda wanted to pack new socks and underwear for Giselle and Collin. I managed to convince her not to, and give them to them the next time they visit. Because great goddess, imagine opening a care package from your folks and finding THAT! I would want to crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment! My kids aren't gonna deal with that. Not on my watch._

_I packed them some fruit and pretzels instead. Nader brought down a huge box of Almyran apples, they're in season and so so good. You can have one if you like._

_\- Archduke Claude Riegan of Leicester_

Cyril had been a small fourteen year old when Byleth first met him. He had lost his parents in a skirmish between Almyra and the Alliance, and Rhea took him in as a servant. He had grown into a fine young man. His hard work ethic was going to make him a natural at this.

Nader, known as The Undefeatable, was a famous warrior of Almyra. Claude had actually spent most of his childhood there, as his father was Almyran. Nader had bonded with the young man and mentored him before he came to the academy.

The apples were red, plump, and wrapped carefully in cloth inside the crate. Byleth picked one up and took a bite. Claude was right. These apples were delicious. But he was only offered one, so the archbishop closed the crate and moved on to the next one.

_Professor:_

_Another autumn is upon us. And autumn in Faerghus brings snow that will only continue into winter. I pray the contents of this crate made it, it's storming as we speak._

_We got ten inches of snow yesterday, I only know because Ingrid went out this morning before more snow hit and measured the tallest drift in the courtyard. At this rate we might get enough to snow in the townspeople. They'll be making sure they have enough food stocked up for that possibility. In the Kingdom of Faerghus, the snow does not bother us. The howling winds and chills make us strong._

_I swear when Kion was three years old, enough snow fell in one day that I was certain if I let him out to play, he'd fall in a drift and I wouldn't see him until the Great Tree Moon. He played anyway, supervised of course. Which brings me back to the crate. Ingrid packed a batch of cinnamon rolls, the ones my cub keeps raving about like you told me. Tell him his dad says he's welcome._

_\- King Dimitri Blaiddyd of Faerghus_

The crate was wooden, like the rest. But it had managed to protect the precious cargo from the elements. The cinnamon rolls were unharmed. Byleth took a big bite of the Almyran apple to avoid tempting himself before moving onto the last crate.

_Professor:_

_I am well, thank you for asking. The trees in the courtyard have turned a fire red, which means harvest is upon us. I imagine there may be a festival of some sort at Garreg Mach? I fondly remember harvest festivals from my childhood._

_I sent Astor the usual food supplies. If there's a festival, please keep an eye on him. I've heard rumors that he's been "a scamp", and his father just seems to think that's funny. Hubert rarely laughs at anything. I told him he wasn't helping. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. He's a good prince consort and father, but really? I suppose it can't be helped._

_Hope my boy isn't too much trouble. He knows better, but sometimes I think he doesn't care. He'll grow out of it before he ascends the throne. I'm confident he will._

_\- Empress Edelgard Hresvelg of Adrestia_

The third and final crate contained bread, cheese, and some spicy smoked jerky which was Astor's favorite treat. Byleth could sense the mother's love in Edelgard's words...he could confirm Astor sometimes had an attitude only a mother could love. He'd shape up when Byleth glared at him. Which was a good sign. 

Dimitri and Claude also sounded like such proud fathers, it was adorable. Byleth had never took a wife or sired children. Despite what malicious gossipers liked to say. People wagged their tongues and single mothers showed up with what they claimed was the archbishop's child. Yet Byleth had likely never even seen the woman in his life. If anything, he was married to his work. 

"Archbishop." The sudden appearance of the monk made him bristle. Why were the monks and nuns always so quiet? Years of mercenary work prior to this work...that reflex was not going to go away. These people were lucky they could sneak up behind him like that without getting hit. "You are needed in the audience chamber."

\----

Eleanor was the daughter of knight captain Alois, and a professor and knight at Garreg Mach. Her father had been close to Byleth's father, Jeralt. Alois had been Jeralt's squire and still looked up to him as a full knight. About a year after Jeralt's death at the hands of an enemy, Alois became captain in his place. Eleanor, who was affectionately called "Ellie" by her parents, was a little over ten years old when Alois became captain.

If there was one thing that made Alois a fun dad, it was how he always went all out for holidays. He loved the harvest festival in particular because free treats and general merrymaking. Eleanor had gotten permission to put on a festival every year at Garreg Mach. This year was the third year she'd done it.

She bowed politely to the archbishop as he entered and sat down in his chair. It almost looked like a throne, but he was casually sitting with his legs spread like a typical man. It reminded Eleanor that Byleth was a normal guy despite his status. Or as close to normal as he could be. Goddess only knew the previous archbishop wasn't as casual.

"Knight of Sothis, Eleanor Rangeld. You may speak."

"Thank you, sir." Eleanor bowed again. "I am running into issues with preparations for the harvest festival on Saturday. The storehouse where I'm keeping the treats for it keeps getting broken into, it seems? Someone is coming through the window in the middle of the night and taking all of the contents."

"Who in their right mind would steal a bunch of candy and pastries?" Byleth kept his stern expression. "Repeatedly?"

"I don't know." Eleanor sighed.

"Eleanor! Lord Byleth!" The door flew open and another teacher ran in.

Byleth blinked. "Cyril? What's your issue?"

Cyril bowed. "A Golden Deer student is missing. Virgil Victor. He didn't show up for lunch and his friend Rhonda is worried sick."

"Son of Ignatz and Bernadetta." Byleth tilted his head to recall. Those two had been a slow burn...they were both introverts and didn't interact too much, or at least not that Byleth had seen. Clearly they had bonded without him noticing, when he learned that they had married and produced a child who was now enrolling, it was a nice surprise. "Rhonda Kirsten, daughter of Raphael and Leonie. Yes, those two are close like their fathers are. I'm not surprised she's worried sick."

"He's been gone all day!" Rhonda, a bulky girl with curly orange hair and round yellow eyes, walked in looking terrified. "I'm not allowed to look for him in the male dorms. Landon chased me out. He was holding a lance. A training one, but still! Astor says the Death Knight who terrorized Garreg Mach twenty years ago is back!"

Twenty years ago, the dorms were laid out differently. Nobles on the top floor and commoners on the bottom. Rhonda would be allowed then because she and Virgil were both commoners. Byleth was wondering if changing it to male dorms and female dorms because of his policy that everyone was of equal standing was really as effective as it seemed.

"I wouldn't believe a thing Young Master Hresvelg says." Cyril said. "All he does in my class is make up tall tales. Mostly about how his parents could beat everyone else's in a fight."

"At least he comes to your class!" Eleanor huffed. "He skips mine. Somebody needs to light a fire under his butt."

"He did that himself once. In the dining hall. With his fire magic. On burrito day." Rhonda butted in. "They had to throw a bucket of water on him."

"I have seen no signs of the Death Knight, and I'm sure our Black Eagle leader would report to the authorities first if he saw him. Hopefully." Byleth sighed. "And no, Eleanor, from my dealings with him, he is not interested in festival treats. He did kidnap students. But he is dead." The archbishop shuddered at the thought of necromancy because Those Who Slither In The Dark, the cult that was now gone, may have had the magic to pull that off. And he didn't want to believe they were back.

"Festival treats?"

Eleanor gave Rhonda a nod. "Yes. Someone is taking them."

"The Knights of Sothis are to search for the missing student first." Byleth said. "Does your house leader already know, Rhonda?" 

"Yes, she's out with Collin and they're both searching."

"I will tell Kion and see if he will lend a hand." Cyril announced. 

"And Rhonda can accompany me." Eleanor's words made Rhonda perk up. "We can ask around the marketplace first."

\----

The two princes of the Black Eagle house had developed a friendship quite easily. They weren't the only nobility around of course, but the future emperor of Adrestia and the future king of Brigid were almost like brothers by now. Brigid was a chain of islands off the coast of Adrestia. Its citizens lived mostly on a hunter/gatherer system. Cyprin's mother, Queen Petra, had told him the Fodlan architecture would amaze him and it did. She also recalled meeting his father at Garreg Mach when they were both students. An Adrestia native. And the marriage had just strengthened ties between Adrestia and Brigid.

If anyone was observing these two, they would see the top of a black haired head poking out from behind a market stall. And possibly hear his complaints. "Just shoot it, goddess dammit. I'm tired of squatting down and waddling around like a chicken myself, my legs hurt."

Cyprin poked Astor with his bow. "And you said Fodlan chickens were stupid balls of meat covered in feathers and that we'd just be able to sneak up and grab it."

Astor responded with a whine and an eye roll.

"Not my fault your parents never taught you stealth and predatory instincts. And if I shoot now, I'll hit one of those kids."

"Then those kids need to move." Astor glared at the group of toddlers between him and the chicken.

The chicken squawked and darted between the legs of a little girl, heading straight for the two "predators". Astor lunged and ended up faceplanting in the dirt as the chicken escaped. Spitting dust and dirt, he sat up and snapped, "Oh, fif this shit!"

Cyprin blinked. "You just said a Brigid swear and a Fodlan one in the same sentence."

"Because last time I said fuck, I got detention."

It was sunny out today, and little cloud cover, yet something blocked the sun for a few seconds, causing both princes to look up. There was a squawk followed by a yell, and then a pine green wyvern landed with a small purple haired teenager clinging to her looking terrified.

Cyprin’s jaw dropped. “Cool, do that again!”

“Good girl, Pinecone.” Collin of the Golden Deer walked over and patted the wyvern’s muzzle, then extended a hand to help his shaking house member off.

Collin’s twin, Giselle, marched over to Cyprin and poked his chest. “He didn’t do it on purpose, my brother’s wyvern took it upon herself to save him after that huge bird dropped him!”

By now, Cyril had arrived with the Blue Lions house leader. Kion looked at Giselle like she just grew another head. “There shouldn’t be any bird that big.”

“Not normally.” Eleanor approached with Rhonda trailing behind her. “There clearly must be some giant birds and wolves left over from twenty years ago. The ones that were...warped.”

“Hey, this isn’t right!” Rhonda snapped. “We can’t have monster birds trying to eat people!”

“It wasn’t eating me.” Virgil stammered, still shaken from the fall.

“Okay, stop the mail.” Astor put his hands up in a “stop” pose. “There was a search party out? And I wasn’t told? Or invited?”

Eleanor crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Odd, coming from the young man whose response to one of his house members being late for breakfast is ‘can I have her pancake’.”

“I thought she was sleeping in!” Astor protested.

“I think our main concern is whether or not master Victor is hurt.” Cyril attempted to check Virgil for wounds. The student flinched at being poked and moved around. 

“I am fine, Professor. Just sore. And my heart’s still racing…”

“Where are you sore?”

“Mostly my head. I can walk. Let me go lay down somewhere.”

Cyril nodded in understanding. “Rhonda, lead him to the infirmary.”

The two Golden Deer students walked away, the smaller Virgil leaning into the shoulder of the slightly larger Rhonda. Kion blinked and smiled. “Well then. That went well. But we still have a giant...may I swear? Asshole bird. On the loose.”

Eleanor laughed. “You’re good because that’s exactly it. Giant asshole bird.”

“You know my mom used to get confused at that word. She thought it meant a donkey in a hole, and then she figured out it was...anatomy and then she was really confused when she heard it as an insult.”

“Cyprin, you’re an odd duck.” Giselle said.

“Well she did. And I’m a Black EAGLE. Not duck.” Cyprin shrugged and picked up a feather. “I think this came from our asshole bird.”

“Can you track it?” Eleanor asked. “Be the brave little hunter you are?”

“We’re gonna eat it?” Collin made a confused face. “I mean...does it taste like chicken? It’s a bird.”

“I don’t know, but probably not. It probably isn’t safe to eat.” Cyril shrugged. 

“It’s out for blood, so it needs to be killed and stuffed and put in a museum.” Kion said. “Dibs on putting it in the Fhiridad one. All that’s there now for taxidermy is a bear rug.”

Astor made an offended huff. “No! Enbarr already has stuffed demon beasts, but not a bird one!”

“How about it goes in NEITHER museum! And we...burn it. Or something!” Giselle rolled her eyes. The stinky boys were at it again.

“Regardless of what we do with it, it’s a threat, and the Knights of Sothis have fought giant birds before, and we have a skilled tracker among our students.” Eleanor patted Cyprin on the back. “Combat training! Cyril, go tell the archbishop what happened here. I’ll get a ton of healers and other knights.”

\----

Cyprin wasn’t sure what he thought of being placed at the lead. It was a bit harder to track a bird than say, a fox, but for some reason this thing was dropping feathers left and right. And every feather he located was met with praise from Eleanor and blank stares and more praise from his peers.

Collin had flown ahead and was the first to locate the village they were now at. It was a farm village in Alliance territory. Smelled like manure. Both Kion and Astor were complaining about that. Giselle was wrinkling her nose a bit too, but not complaining.

“Why did you color on your face?” A little girl suddenly appeared in front of Cyprin as he was sitting in front of the general store.

“Ssshh Kenzie, you don’t talk to strangers!” The child’s mother pulled her back.

Astor nearly spit out his drink from laughing nearby. Cyprin smiled at the mother. “She’s fine, ma’am. I’m harmless.” The little girl watched with wide eyes. “These are tattoos!” Cyprin told her. “They’re what everybody gets in Brigid. They have important meaning to us.”

“You come from Hunter Island? That’s what my big brother calls it. Can you hunt the big bird that came through here and attacked my uncle?”

“Well that’s a lead.” Astor commented.

“My uncle is okay!” The little girl continued. “He’s just...at the doctor until he feels better.”

“We are actually going after the big bird.” Giselle walked over. “It attacked someone where we come from too. I hope your uncle gets well soon.”

The mother looked at the group for a second, then her face seemed to light up. “Did you come from Garreg Mach?”

“We did.” Eleanor smiled. “And we should be hitting the road now if we hope to catch up with the bird. Astor, Giselle, Collin, Cyprin. Where’s Kion?”

“They have cheese curds!” Kion walked out of the general store carrying a bag of cheese curds. “I love these things!”

Eleanor chuckled. “Save room for the cinnamon rolls your parents sent.” This caused the prince to make a surprised, then excited expression.

\----

“Concerned there, friend?” Alois approached Byleth at the inner gates of Garreg Mach. “To be honest I am as well.”

“And we still have the festival to worry about.” Byleth sighed. “Not that it bothers ME too much, but your daughter seemed worried about it.”

“Oh yes, whoever is taking the treats! Of all the NERVE!”

Byleth produced a small smile before turning to the knight who just addressed him with an “Archbishop!” and a salute. “Yes?”

“They have returned.” The knight smiled. “And they brought something extra.”

A wagon was being brought through the gates with a dead bird the size of a horse on it. The Blue Lions and Black Eagles house leaders quarreled beside it, something about museums? Byleth did not know.

“This monster had our missing treats in its nest!” Eleanor announced with a smile. “Couldn’t save all of them, but we brought back the ones we could save. Oh, hi Dad.”

“What a trick. But we got our treats back.” Alois smirked. Eleanor rolled her eyes and Byleth turned away. They were used to Alois’ puns by now.

“The harvest festival will still happen at its scheduled time. But I suggest more treats be made ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.” Eleanor saluted. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Kiddo bio document: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Z9743GsK0Cq8u1rV7nzXDyP6wdpohhvgxMyK2DJuHFY
> 
> Also contains some stuff on crest genetics.


End file.
